Christmas and New Year – working hours, extras and pay

Working hours, compensation and holiday provisions during the turn of the year vary across the various private services sectors. But they all differ from normal daily life.

Click the link below to go to your own sector.

All sectors: annual holiday at Christmas
Retail
Hospitality services
Facility services
Private security
Pharmacies
Ski resorts
Activity programmes

Annual holiday at Christmas

If an employee is on annual holiday in weeks 52 and 1, you should note that Christmas Eve and Boxing Day are not counted as holiday days. Sundays also do not use up annual holiday days.

Example:
An employee has 6 annual holiday days to take. They start their holiday on the Monday of Christmas week. The annual holiday on that week will be 19/12 to 23.12 (5 days), since Christmas Eve (Saturday 24/12) cannot be a annual holiday. The same goes for Boxing Day (Monday 26/12) , so the rest of the annual holiday (1 day) is moved forward to the following week, that is Tuesday 27/12.

Week 51	Mon 19/12	Tue 20/12	Wed 21/12	Thu 22/12	Fri 23/12	Sat 24/12	Sun 25/12
	H	H	H	H	H	-	-
Week 52	Mon 26/12	Tue 27/12	Wed 28/12	Thu 29/12	Fri 30/12	Sat 31/1	Sun 1/1
	-	H

Retail

Turn of the year 2022-2023

Shops can be open every day of the year.

Work shifts can be entered for employees in the retail sector on all days in the Christmas and New Year period. However, public holidays reduce working time either within the annual leave system or within the midweek public holiday system. Workplaces must use one of these systems.

Annual leave system
In the annual leave system, annual midweek public holidays (church festivals) are counted within so-called annual leave. The employee is allocated days off based on the number of hours worked, but the time when these are taken is not tied to public holidays. You can find more information on the annual leave system here.

Midweek public holiday system
Instead of an annual leave system, an employer can use a midweek public holiday system in all or part of the company. At the turn of the year 2022-2023, midweek public holidays that shorten working time are Independence Day (6/12), Boxing Day (26/12), and Epiphany (6/1).

Employees are entitled to a midweek public holiday working time reduction if their employment relationship has lasted at least one month before the midweek public holiday. This requirement does not apply to working time reduction due to Independence Day.

For full-time employees, working time is reduced by 1 day or 7 hrs 30 min ( 8 hours in a 40 hour schedule) per midweek public holiday.

A working time reduction is made by giving a day off:

• in a week with a midweek public holiday
• in the 2 previous weeks
• in the 2 following weeks or
• in an averaging schedule.

Part-time employees (working less than 37.5 hrs) are given a working time reduction for a week with a midweek public holiday either as paid time off during the reduction period or as a monetary payment in addition to hours worked.

Payment should be made with the payment for the reduction period.

The monetary payment or working time reduction are calculated by dividing the weekly working time agreed in the employment contract by 5.

For clerical employees, reduction in working time in an averaging schedule requires agreement at the workplace in accordance with Section 23 of the collective agreement.
If Saturday is a fixed day off, it is also a day off in a week with a midweek public holiday.
 

Days off on eve of public holidays

Permanent employees in the retail sector get two days off out of the four eves of a public holiday. The eves are Easter Sunday, Midsummer’s Eve, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

If you have not got these days off, your employer must compensate you for the eves you did not get off by paying 100% increased wages for the regular work done (collective agreement section 7.8.3.).

Working time bonuses
Under the link to Appendix F you will find a table (in Finnish) of bonuses and working time compensations in the collective agreement. Please notice that different professions have different regulations.
 

ANNUAL HOLIDAY
Check the general instructions here. 

Example

• Public holidays, Easter Saturday, May Day, Midsummer’s Eve, Independence Day and Christmas Eve are not counted as holiday day (Collective agreement section 20)
• 3-week averaging period
• A full-time employee takes 6 days of annual holiday at the end of the year 
• WD=work day, DO=day off, H=holiday

Week 50	Mon 12/12 WD	Tue 13/12 WD	Wed 14/12 WD	Thu 15/12 WD	Fri 16/12 WD	Sat 17/12 DO	Sun 18/12 DO
Week 51	Mon 19/12 H	Tue  20/12 H	Wed 21/12 H	Thu 22/12 H	Fri 23/12. H	La 24/12 -	Su 25/12 -
Week 52	Mon 26/12 -	Tue 27/12 H	Wed 28/12 WD	Thu 29/12 WD	Fri 30/12 WD	La 31/12 DO	Su 1/1 DO

The table can be found here in Finnish.

Hospitality services

Turn of the year 2022-2023

Employees in the hotel, restaurant and leisure services sector can be put to work on all days of the year.

Also, no midweek public holidays are specified in the sector.

In the annual leave schedule e.g. annual midweek public holidays (church festivals) are calculated within so-called annual leave. The employee gets leave days based on the hours worked, but the dates of these are not tied to public holidays, for example. So they do not have to be placed on public holidays, but they can be. Take a closer look at the annual leave schedule here (in Finnish).

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Evening shifts on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day must, however, be given as leave if an employee so requests a week before the work schedule that includes Christmas is drawn up. However, these days off do not have to be provided in accommodation establishments, seasonal and transport restaurants, hospital and service station cafes and staff canteens.

Wages for working on eves of public holidays and on public holidays
If an employee is at work on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve after 3 p.m., basic wages and evening work and licensee’s deputy’s bonuses are paid increased by 50 %.

On Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Epiphany wages are paid increased by 100%.

Facility services sector

The turn of the year 2022-2023

Working times from Monday 19/12- Sunday 8/1 in the facility services sector.

An employee’s working shifts can be placed on any day of the week, unless otherwise agreed.

Saturday off
Under the collective agreement, the Saturday of the week of New Year’s Day and the Saturday of the week of Epiphany must be given as a day off. At the turn of the year 2022-2023 these off days are 31 December and 7 January. If a company’s service offering is uninterrupted, as for example in hotel housekeeping, an employee can be assigned working shifts on these days too.

Increase in wages on Christmas Eve and some Saturdays

• Work on Christmas Eve is compensated with a 100 percent increase in pay.
• Work on Saturday of New Year’s and Epiphany is compensated with a 50 percent increase in pay.
• However, in uninterrupted three-shift work wages are not increased.

Midweek public holidays

Midweek public holidays in the period 24/12 - 8/1 are:

• Christmas Eve (24/12)
• Christmas Day (25/12)
• Boxing Day (26/12)
• New Year’s Day (1/1)
• Epiphany (6/1)

Workers with monthly salary

A monthly paid employee gets a day off, if a midweek public holiday would have been a working day according to his/her work schedule.

When a monthly paid employee gets a day off that reduces working time because of a midweek public holiday, he/she is paid the normal monthly wage.

Workers with hourly pay

An hourly paid employee gets a so-called midweek public holiday compensation if

• his/her employment relationship has lasted at least 3 months before the midweek public holiday concerned and
• the midweek public holiday would have been a working day according to his/her work schedule for which he/she would have been entitled to be paid wages.

The employer makes a work schedule for the employee with at least the working hours written in the employment contract. This means that the employee might have to work the hours of the midweek public holiday at another time.

Average weekly working time

If a workplace uses a so-called average weekly working time schedule, leave days on midweek public holidays are not days equivalent to working days when total working time for the period is calculated.

Therefore midweek public holidays and possible compensation paid midweek public holidays do not count towards the total working time when calculating compensation for overtime.

Amount of compensation for midweek public holidays

1. For an employee whose regular working time is 37.5 hours a week, midweek public holiday compensation based on 7.5 hours.

2. For an employee whose regular working time is 40 hours a week, midweek public holiday compensation based on 8 hours.

3. For an employee whose regular working time is less than 37.5 hours a week, midweek public holiday compensation calculated on a relative basis.

• If an employee’s weekly working time is fixed
  Midweek public holiday compensation hours are calculated by dividing the weekly working time by 5.
• If an employee’s weekly working time varies
  Midweek public holiday compensation hours are calculated as follows: working hours in the quarter are divided by 63. However, working days during periods of absence due to annual holiday or one’s own or a child’s illness are subtracted from the figure of 63.

For example:
An employee has worked 216 hours during a quarter. He/she has been ill for 4 working days and on winter holiday for a week (6 weekdays of holiday). Midweek public holiday compensation is calculated as follows:
63 – (4 + 5) = 54 (denominator)
216 / 54 = 4
The employee is paid midweek public holiday compensation for 4 hours.
The amount of the compensation is based on average hourly earnings.

At work on a midweek public holiday

If an employee has been at work on midweek public holidays, he/she is paid wages increased by 100% for work done on those days. They do not get midweek public holiday compensation for those working hours.

However, midweek public holiday compensation is paid, if the employee works fewer hours than usual on a midweek public holiday. The compensation is based on the difference between normal working hours and the hours that the employee did work.

For example:
A full-time (37.5 hrs/week) employee works 4 hours on a midweek public holiday, and gets wages for 4 hours increased by 100 per cent and additionally a 3.5 hour midweek public holiday compensation.

Annual holiday at Christmas time

Check the general instructions here.
 

Holidays are held on weekdays, and weekdays are all days except Sundays, Church holidays, Independence Day, Christmas Eve, Midsummer’s Eve, Easter Saturday and May Day (Section 4 of the Annual Holidays Act (AHA 4§).

Therefore, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day are not counted in the annual holiday. It is worth noting, that a annual holiday that extends over Christmas means that midweek holiday compensation is not paid for those days. The same goes for New Year’s Day.

This is because, according to the collective agreement for the property services sector, midweek public holiday compensation is paid if it would have been a working day. Because the holiday extends over Christmas, the Christmas Days are not considered to be working days. This makes no difference for those with a monthly salary, but part-time workers don’t get pay for these days.

Example

A six day annual holiday on Christmas week.

Boxing Day 26/12	Tuesday 27/12	Wednesday 28/12	Thursday 29/12	Friday 30/12	Saturday 31/12	NewYear's Day 1/1	Monday 2/1
AHA 4§	Holiday	Holiday	Holiday	Holiday	Holiday	AHA 4§	Holiday

See the table here in Finnish.

 

Private security

Turn of the year 2022-2023

Employees can have working days on all days in the Christmas period.

For monthly paid employees there is a so-called annual leave system. In it, annual midweek public holidays are calculated within annual leave. Based on the hours worked, an employee accrues leave, but on dates that are not tied to public holidays, for example.

The annual leave system only applies to monthly paid employees. Leave is accrued at a rate of 13.25 hours per calendar month. So during a year around 20 work shifts of leave are accrued, if a shift is 8 hours long.

You can find more information on the annual leave system here (in Finnish).

If a part-time employee works on a midweek public holiday according to average hourly earnings (KTA), he/she accrues a maximum of 8 hours of paid leave.

Midweek public holidays
Under the collective agreement for the private security sector, Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and Epiphany are considered midweek public holidays in the Christmas period.

For work done on a midweek public holiday, wages are paid normally subject to the exceptions below.

Wages
• For work done after midnight on Christmas Eve, 100% Sunday compensation is paid
• For work done after midnight on New Year’s Eve, an increase of 50% is paid.
• For Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Epiphany – as for all days marked red in the calendar – wages are paid increased by 100%.

 

Pharmacies

Turn of the year 2022-2023

Leave on eve of public holiday

An employee who works an average of five days a week in an employment relationship of indefinite duration is given Midsummer’s Eve or Christmas Eve off.

Leave on the eve of a public holiday during annual holiday is counted as leave taken on the eve of a public holiday.

So Christmas Eve must be given as a day off if an employee did not get the day off on Midsummer’s Eve and was not on annual holiday then.

Days that reduce working time
Days that reduce working time at the turn of the year 2022-2023 are

• in December: Independence Day (6/12) and Boxing Day (26/12)
• in January: Epiphany (6/1)

Days that reduce working time mean that working time is reduced without wages going down.

An employee and employer may also agree that the reduction in working time is paid out as monetary compensation.

When is the reduction given?
The reduction in working time is given in the working time period that includes the reducing day – so not necessarily on the day that reduces working time.

If the working time period is for example 3 weeks and it started on 12.12., the employee must be given leave corresponding to 1 working time reducing days (Boxing Day) within the period.

How is the reduction done?
For full-time employees, the reduction is 7.5 hrs per working time reducing day.
The reduction is made by giving a continuous period of leave. If this is not possible, the number of hours in the period is reduced by other means.

It is also possible to agree to pay out the reduction in working time as monetary compensation for each midweek public holiday separately.

For a part-time employee, working time is reduced by the number of hours obtained by dividing the average weekly working time agreed in the collective agreement by 5.

If the period working time varies, average weekly working time is calculated based on the 12 preceding calendar weeks.

Example 1.
The agreed weekly working time of a part-time employee is 25 hours / week.
Her working time reduction is made up as follows: 25 hours / 5 = 5 hours.
The working time of the employee concerned is reduced by 5 hours in a week with a midweek public holiday without reducing his/her wages, or alternatively extra wages are paid for 5 hours.

Example 2.
A part-time employee’s working time varies and in the 12 weeks before the week of Independence Day (in the period 13.9-5.12) he/she has worked a total of 264 hours.
Then the average weekly working time is 264 hours / 12 = 22 hours.
His/her working time reduction is made up as follows: 22 hours / 5 = 4.4 hours.
The working time of the employee concerned is reduced by 4.4 hours in a week with a midweek public holiday without reducing his/her wages, or alternatively extra wages are paid for 4.4 hours.

At work on Christmas Eve
If an employee works after midday on Christmas Eve, he/she is paid a public holiday eve bonus of 4,09 €/ hour.

At work on Christmas public holidays or on New Year’s Day
If an employee works on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day, wages are paid for the work increased by 100%. Evening and night bonuses are also paid at the double rate.
 

Ski resorts

Turn of the year 2022-2023

In principle all days can be working days. You can check the working time schedules in the sector in the collective agreement here (In Finnish).

Wages
Wages for work done on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve after 3 p.m. are paid increased by 50%. Evening and night work bonuses and working conditions bonuses are also correspondingly increased.

Wages for work done on Christmas Day are paid increased by 150 %. Evening and night work bonuses and working conditions bonuses are also correspondingly increased.

For work done on Sundays and other church festivals and on May Day and Independence Day, wages are paid increased by 100%. Evening and night work bonuses and working conditions bonuses are also increased correspondingly.

Working conditions and working time bonuses

• Evening work bonus (between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.) 0.80€ / hour
• Night work bonus (9 p.m. – 6 a.m.) 2.24€ / hour
• Snowmaking bonus 1.37€ / hour

Activity programme sector

Turn of the year 2022-2023

The collective agreement for the sector is being negotiated at the moment. These rules apply at least until a new agreement has entered into force.

In principle all days can be working days. You can check the working time schedules in the sector in the collective agreement here.

For work done on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, wages are paid increased by 100%. The same applies to Sundays and other church festivals as well as May Day and Independence Day.

Other bonuses:
If an averaging schedule of maximum 24 weeks has been agreed locally, employees covered by the agreement should be paid:

• an evening work bonus of 0.77€ / hour for work done between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
• a night work bonus of 2.16€ / hour for work done between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., unless agreed otherwise locally.